James McDaid
Ceist:13 Dr. McDaid asked the Minister for Finance the plans, if any, he has to address the serious gender imbalance in the higher Civil Service. [12416/97]
Vol. 479 No. 1
13 Dr. McDaid asked the Minister for Finance the plans, if any, he has to address the serious gender imbalance in the higher Civil Service. [12416/97]
The Government is committed to a policy of equality of opportunity for all Civil Service staff. In this context, I am, naturally, anxious to see better gender balance at senior levels in the Civil Service and every effort is and has been made to ensure that there are no barriers, hidden or otherwise, preventing women from progressing to the highest positions. I believe that significant progress has been made in this direction. A very welcome development has been the appointment in 1995 of the first woman secretary to a Department since 1959. In addition, three women were appointed to assistant secretary level positions in 1995, two in 1996 and four in 1997 to date, bringing to 19 the number of women at and above assistant secretary level, compared with seven years ago.